Until the end (Ian Gallagher x OC)

Chapter 06

"Hi, Fiona" I smiled happily as she showed up to my science fair in the evening.

"Hey, Megs, is this your project?" She looked at the information board I had made to go with my chemical samples to show the chemistry behind light and colour.

"Yeah" I nodded to her, explaining things when she asked questions, trying to show me some support. The night was coming to an end and Fiona had agreed to stay with me as nobody else showed up, not even my foster parents.

"Thanks for showing up, Fiona" I gave her a sad smile as I began packing up my project.

"Of course. Ian really wanted to be here" she informed me.

"Where is he?" I wondered, knowing that he knew I had this tonight.

"He got beat up pretty bad on his way home from work"

"He what?" I snapped. "What are we doing standing around here?" I quickly gathered my project and pulled on my jacket, rushing out with Fiona on my heels to catch up.

"Gallagher!" I shouted bursting through the door of the house.

"Upstairs" all of the kids replied from the couch, knowing exactly who I was looking for. I ran upstairs to find Ian in his room with an ice pack on his eye. "What the hell?" I demanded simply, Ian sighing at how Fiona must have told me about his incident.

"It's nothing, alright?" He tried to brush it off.

"It's not nothing" I shot back.

"I got beat up, but I'm fine. There's nothing we can do about it now" Ian reminded me as I sighed in defeat. "Show me your project" he promoted eagerly, setting down the ice pack and sitting up slightly with interest as I opened the information board and took out my samples.

~~~

Frank has been back for a few days and Fiona was still ignoring Steve by the time we all got together again to continue watching the fishing show. I was sitting on the floor, reading through my notes on biodiversity as everyone was gathered around the Tv.

"It's the weekend, why are you doing school work?" Karen asked, taking her seat next to Lip.

"She's the smartest girl on the south side, wants to do something with her life" Lip replied as I blocked her out, too focused on the information I was taking in.

"Here" Ian walked in and set down a can of pop on the coffee table for me.

"Thanks" I smiled up at him briefly, turning back to my work as he sat behind me in the other chair.

"... deciphering the human genetic code, but he's also one of the most controversial... iconoclast with a brilliant mind and an outsized ego who has flaunted the conventional wisdom, and tweaked the staid scientific establishment at every turn." The TV spoke out when a cell phone rang in the room, everyone looking up at the chime.

"It's not me." Fiona claimed.

"I don't have the phone." Lip added, while Karen beside him checked to see if it was her phone.

"Nope." Veronica replied, checking her phone as well.

"He's an adrenaline junky whose willingness to take big risks has led to bold scientific breakthroughs. And he's not exactly shy about outing those achievements." The TV continued as Fiona found the phone under a pillow.

"Hello?" She answered. A moment later she went outside through the back door, leaving us alone to watch the show.

"I think the teams that we have, and what we've accomplished are certainly amongst the biggest discoveries in modern science."